‘Mr. Robot’ Recap and Review: “eps2.8_h1dden_pr0cess.axx”

For a full recap of the episode, visit the Mr. Robot Wiki here. This article is a review of the episode in which specific details and events are discussed. SPOILERS may occur, so read at your own risk.

The quick and dirty catch up:Colby and Price discuss the political puppet show before getting down to the nitty gritty: convincing the President (by proxy) to allow China to annex the Congo. Even in the pre-credits open, these guys are operating at a scary enough level to redraw continents. Price’s ambitions are no less than Godhood, and I’m not sure he can’t pull that off. This is one of the “hidden processes” of the title, as the unseen hand guides the world closer to Price’s endgame.

Joanna tasks Elliot (who she knows isn’t “Ollie”) with tracking down Wellick. So, the best evidence of Wellick being an alt of Elliot’s is now dead in the water. (Sorry.) Yet Joanna still knows much more than she’s telling. Her bodyguard keeps Elliot company as he traces her mystery caller, over Robot’s internal insistence that Tyrell is dead. Either Robot is in deep denial, or he doesn’t have all the facts, either. When the bodyguard recognizes the final address, it surprises him, too. There’s the possibility it’s not really Tyrell, but the bodyguard says “trust me, he wouldn’t be calling from that house”.

Vincent, Darlene’sfsociety operative from the Capital Hill job, was the whimpering man in the smart house. He’s in seriously broken shape, but will expose Darlene if he’s found drugged in a hospital. Cisco points out that his girlfriend has no moral justification for letting her soldier die and that she’s fumbling her way through leadership. Darlene agrees, and they seek medical attention for their comrade.

Darlene describes her childhood abduction from Coney Island to Cisco. No, really. That’s something treated with a depth we rarely see from Darlene, in contrast with her typical nonchalant attitude, but there’s no end to the childhood tragedies for this family. The sequence opens up some beautiful interpersonal moments in a diner.

Angela tries over and over to confront Elliot with what she knows, and their “final” goodbye on a subway train comes with a kiss. Why final? She’s turning herself in for her femtocell hack, and the feds will probably be coming for him soon. As he leaves, she is approached far earlier than she expected. The wave of emotions that Elliot flies through in this scene is some of Malik’s best work.

Dom tracks Cisco (aka Francis Shaw) from the smart house to Darlene’s to the hospital and to the diner. By putting out a BOLO, though, the FBI tips the Dark Army; they arrive to tie up loose ends.

The big reveal? The Dark Army performs a Beijing raid redux, and appears to take out Cisco (and possibly Darlene).